Morello, Samantha
(2018)
Upstream Fault Detection in a Grid Tied Microgrid Setting.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Microgrids have been introduced to integrate more renewable resources into the utility wgrid. Bidirectionality and low fault current levels are issues that cause fault detection problems for microgrids in both grid connected and islanded modes of operation. During an upstream fault condition the desired reaction for the microgrid is to island itself. This allows certain loads, such as critical loads, to remain uninterrupted during an outage on the main grid. Therefore, the maintenance crew can be safely dispatched to alleviate the problem without fear of back-feed from the microgrid side. Hence, a critical problem that still needs adequate solutions developed is the detection of upstream faults in the grid connected mode without reliance on communication systems. Protection methods to detect upstream faults through relay solutions are presented in this thesis. First, voltage collapse is used to detect faults on one particular microgrid topology. However, in power system protection design, it is generally not practical to use voltage as an indicator for faults. Hence, a novel protection method is proposed using second order harmonic magnitudes as a fault indicator. This protection solution detects faults based on voltage and current second harmonic magnitudes during fault transient periods. A microgrid system is built and validated based on an actual operational microgrid at Eaton Corporation in Warrendale Pennsylvania. Multiple case studies are simulated using PSACAD/EMTDC to verify the effectiveness of the proposed protection solutions.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
11 June 2018 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
24 January 2018 |
| Approval Date: |
11 June 2018 |
| Submission Date: |
10 March 2018 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
90 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Swanson School of Engineering > Electrical Engineering |
| Degree: |
MS - Master of Science |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
microgrids, harmonics, DER, protection, faults |
| Date Deposited: |
11 Jun 2018 17:44 |
| Last Modified: |
11 Jun 2018 17:44 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/33873 |
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